You know the drives you hit dead straight but way up in the air and if you get 50 yards you’re lucky? That’s skying the ball. Maddening. There are three main causes for this.

First, and hopefully most obvious, is that you’re teeng the ball too high. The middle of the ball, as it sits on the tee, should meet the top of the driver head. This guideline has been around for years, because it works.

The other two causes are more involved. They are meant to correct the cause of the popup, which is the clubhead coming into the ball on a downward trajectory. You want the clubhead to be arcing upward a few degrees at impact.

One is that you are swaying toward the target during your forward swing. That moves the low point of your swing in that direction, which means the clubhead will still be travelling downward when it meets the ball, sending it up excessively.

At address, lean your torso toward the trailing side of your body by a few degrees, and keep it there. In the forward swing, think “stay back” so you don’t straighten up your posture.

The second reason is you take the club back too steeply. Your forward swing will follow this trajectory into the ball, and again, the clubhead comes into the ball at too steep an angle.